The Big Chairlift

Jindabyne, New South Wales, Australia

Roadside giants

✓

Current

Checked by Project Big Things · Sep 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A locally built oversized double-chairlift sculpture installed permanently in Banjo Paterson Park in 2025 after a community campaign to keep it in Jindabyne.

Before you stop

Do not treat the Big Chairlift sculpture coordinate as a vehicle stopping point.

Parking on site
Public toilets
nearby
Wheelchair-accessible route
nearby
Free
onsite

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Recommended arrival available

Onsite parking

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

A free Explorer account reveals the exact recommended arrival point.

The Big Chairlift

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

36.41725° S, 148.62483° E

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Jindabyne is the town you stay in to ski the Snowy Mountains, and it now has a chairlift on the lakefront that goes nowhere.

The Big Chairlift is an oversized double chair by the artist Darragh Walsh, built locally and installed in Banjo Paterson Park in 2025. It became a permanent fixture after a community campaign to keep it in Jindabyne – which is worth noting, because it means the town chose this object rather than being given it. NSW Government material describes it as reflecting Jindabyne's connection to snow sports, tourism and the creative energy of the region, and says every detail from its size to its placement was considered to make it a lasting icon.

The subject is a good one precisely because it is infrastructure rather than scenery. A giant snowflake or a giant skier would be generic. A chairlift is the specific object that every person who has ever come here for the snow has sat in, cold, at the start of the day – and putting one at the lake, at the bottom of the mountains, in a park, is a joke about anticipation that anyone who has driven up from Sydney will get immediately.

The siting is unusually thoughtful for access. The NSW Government describes a level, all-abilities concrete path leading to the sculpture – which makes it one of the more genuinely reachable entries in this catalogue rather than one that merely sits near a road.

And, being a chairlift, it is designed to be sat in.

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PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

The Big Chairlift is a current free lakefront attraction in Banjo Paterson Park. NSW Government identifies a nearby car park, public toilets and an all-abilities concrete path to the sculpture.

ACCESS

The Big Chairlift is in Banjo Paterson Park beside the Lake Jindabyne foreshore at approximately -36.4172451, 148.6248294. A wide all-abilities path connects the sculpture area with nearby public parking. Independent evidence identifies the Bay Street car park as adjacent to and serving Banjo Paterson Park, while a local-government visitor destination maps the park’s Bay Street arrival at -36.4163051, 148.6250062. Use that public park arrival and continue on foot rather than driving to the sculpture point.

COMMUNITY

Visitor Log

WHAT'S NEXT

Find another Big Thing nearby

✓

Current

The Big Trout

Adaminaby, New South Wales

A 10-metre rainbow trout landmark in Adaminaby, created in 1973 and restored in 2024.

Roadside giants

49 km away

✓ Recommended arrival recorded

TRANSPARENCY

Sources & research

Darragh Walsh Creations – The Big Chairlift

Darragh Walsh Creations · recorded 2026-08-22

Artist first-party source for the 2025 sculpture and community acquisition.

Official

NSW Government – The Big Chairlift

NSW Government · recorded 2026-09-11

Authoritative current attraction page confirms Banjo Paterson Park, car park and all-abilities path.

Government

Pashley v R – Bay Street car park adjacent to Banjo Paterson Park

CaseChat / NSWCCA decision text · recorded 2026-09-11

Decision text records the Bay Street car park as adjacent to Banjo Paterson Park in Jindabyne; used to corroborate car-park identity, not as the numeric coordinate source.

Other

Visit Cooma – Banjo Paterson Park mapped venue

Visit Cooma · recorded 2026-09-11

Maps Banjo Paterson Park at the Kosciuszko Road / Bay Street arrival at -36.4163051, 148.6250062.

Tourism

Visit NSW – The Big Chairlift

Destination NSW · recorded 2026-08-22

Current Destination NSW corroboration.

Tourism

What we're still checking

Open-licence image search completed 24 August 2026. No defensible reusable image with file-level commercial-use provenance was verified in the completed Commons, government/open-licence and archival/open-collection sweep.

NSW Government confirms a nearby car park and accessible path to the Big Chairlift, but PBT does not yet have an independently map-checked car-park entrance coordinate.

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